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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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If you can do it...

Send someone to the first venue to shadow the installation.  See if the
manual makes sense. Plan on revising it after the first test run.  OMSI
did this with an exhibit we were the first to rent.  They didn't send
someone when we first assembled it but they did for the shipping out and
he took notes, photos, made alterations, fixed parts and I am sure the
next venue had a much better experience. Note: the exhibit was great.

Can it be assembled and started up based on your instructions?  Assembly
instructions for travelling exhibits range from excellent to horrendous
and, unfortunately, they trend toward the later. Sometimes the last
person who should be writing the manual is the designers or fabricators.
It is so easy to miss or leave out something totally obvious to you but
not to the person who has never seen it before.  Label everything and be
consistent.  I have dealt with exhibits where one element was labeled
two and maybe three different things.  Purchase heavy weight
(industrial, 6mil min.) ziplock bags and lots of bold sharpie markers.
Lay all the bolts and parts out and take a picture, mark it up and put
it in the manual.

Sciencenter in Ithaca does all this extremely well. If one of their
exhibits is in your region go see it and interview the folks who set it
up.

TROUBLESHOOTING instructions!  Give them a list of things to try and
test before they call you. Not every museum has an exhibit department
and many do not have tech staff.  Explain how to reboot the computers.
And if you have DVD or other "players" that went out configured to
repeat chapters, power up on start up or ignore sleep mode, DO NOT
expect them to stay that way very long.  If you do not have a full back
up set of equipment at home to refer to when answering questions take
pictures of all control panels and cable assemblies.  Remotes too!
Imagine trying to walk someone thru the process without having one in
your own hands.

And yes, yes, yes, incoming and outgoing reports. Not just the exhibits
but the crates, manuals, props, etc.  And in this day-and-age emphasize
the use of digital photography to document problems and repairs.

Oh man, I could go on...but the glue is probably dry by now and I have
to get back to the shop.

Good luck.

Erich Rose
Exhibit Manager
Austin Children's Museum
201 Colorado Street
Austin, TX 78701
512-472-2499 x207, fax 512-472-2495
[log in to unmask], www.austinkids.org
 

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